


To Find a Stump in the Woods

by AliNear



Category: One Piece, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: ASL Brothers, ASL brothers have sad back stories, Character Death, Marco was just trying to help, Phantumps have sad back stories, Pokemon Lore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-03-30 21:39:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19036102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliNear/pseuds/AliNear
Summary: Marco was just coming back from one of his journey's and just wanted to help a hurt wild pokemon. He got more then he bargained for. He should have paid attention to what his pokedex said.





	1. Chapter 1

 

                Marco smiled, chatting with his siblings as they greeted him from his latest journey. Thatch had an arm around his shoulder pulling him down, while Haruta viciously rubbed at his head.

                “Guararara, welcome home my son!” Edward Newgate’s booming laugh echoed as he stepped forward with open arms.

                “Pops.” Smiling wildly, Marco shot under Thatches arms and to his father.

                “Guarara,” he pulled him close, easily lifting the nineteen-year-old off his fee.

                “Come now, tell us about your journey- ah there’s no need to keep those all cooped up.” He told him, gesturing towards the living room before snatching one of Marco’s pokeballs and giving it a small toss.

                A familiar light shines brightly before Marco’s Vaporeon trills out a greeting before running to head but Jozu in greeting. Shaking his head, he lightly tapped each pokeball, realizing his Pidgeotto, Talonflame coming out a moment after, Altaria came out chirp before flying over to neatly nestle on the armchair. Blazikan came out without much fuse, lazily looking at them before walking out the door to greet the other pokemon housed there.

                Marco hesitated on the last ball, meekly looking up at his father.

                “I don’t know if I should let him out, I know you generally don’t want us to take pokemon that don’t want to join us. But Dad he was hurt bad and I had to catch him to bring him to the center! I was going to return him I swear but nurse Joy said he needed some time.”

                Humming, Newgate nodded at his son words, “Let him out, show him he has freedom until he’s better and we will arrange for you or one of your siblings to return him.”

                Nodding hesitantly, Marco held out his last pokeball. Altaria, Talonflame, and Pidgeotto all stood at attention when his hand went to the pokeball and watched rapidly as he freeded the last pokemon.

                A phantump with a large orange cowboy hat shot out of the pokeball, wailing as it shot around the room, pausing at each person before screaming again and letting out will-o-wisps. Vaporeon jumped into action following him around with glee and letting out small streams of water each time he set something on fire.

                “Hey, hey little guy.” Marco spoke lowly, kneeling down as he tracked the pokemons movements, he barely caught his father’s upset and saddened expression before the pokemon wailed loudly and nearly went headfirst into his stomach.

                “Hey, no, you’re going to get hurt again. I just want to help.” He tried. “I’m going to release you okay?”

                The Phantump stopped wailing, turning its head to stare at him with large glowing eyes.

                “Just, you’re hurt, let me help you and then me and my siblings we’ll take you back okay?”

                The pokemon gave a small nod, looking up at him wildly.

                “When did you catch him?” Thatch asked, stepped forward as he dug a hand into his pocket and pulled out a poke bean.

                “Like this morning, heading through Dawn Forest.”

                Newgate hummed, leaning forward to look closer at the pokemon as it munched away.

                “Sabo?” he tried.

                The Phantump looked up, making chattering noise.

                “Or Luffy?”

                Shaking it’s head he floated closer to him, holding the half-eaten bean out.

                “Ace then?”

                The pokemon squealed, nodding as it floated in a circle.

                “Have to get back to your brother then?” it nodded again before shyly looking back towards Marco.

                “No worries, we can release you or go pick them up.”

                “Dad?” Haruta muttered, stepping towards Marco’s own dumfounded form.

                “Wha-what’ just happened?”

                “Phantump are one of the more controversial pokemon.” He told his children, reaching out to gently pat at the pokemon’s head, “Phantump aren’t breed or born but rather… created in a sense.”

                Vista’s mouth goes thin as his face pales, Jozu turns away with tears glittering in his eyes.

                “I don’t understand?” Haruta says softly, reaching forward to lace her arm around Marco’s.

                “There one of the few that use to be human.” Jozu says after a moment.

                Nodding his head Newgate continues, “They were children lost in the woods, sometimes when they passed on, they’d come back like this.” He told them, gesturing to the floating specter.

                Marco felt the bile rise up but couldn’t help but chocking out, “You knew his name?”

                “Right before you left, you remember Garp stopping by to ask for help locating his grandchildren.”

                “We searched for three days.” Thatch said faintly.

                “Swept away by rainwater filling the river during a camping trip. Looks like you,” He nodded towards Marco, “Found the oldest. Portgas D Ace, he was twelve.”

                The family stared at the pokemon silently. “Thatch and I, we’ll go look for the other two, his brothers.” Vista vlunteers, before kneeling down to look at the- the _pokemon,_ “Are they Phantumps like you?”

                He squeaked nodding his head as he turned around in a small circle.

                “Okay then.” Thatch muttered, standing and dusting himself off, “We’ll set off in the morning… if we find… the bodies well call you.” He offered his father.

                “I will call Garp tonight.”

                Awkwardly Marco looked down at the Phantump as it slowly floated back towards him, holding his hand out for more food.

 

**#708 Phantump Grass/Ghost, According to old tales, these Pokémon are stumps possessed by the spirits of children who died while lost in the forest. (Y, Alpha Sapphire) These Pokémon are stumps possessed by the spirits of children who died in the forest. Their cries sound like eerie screams. (Sun) An unknown spirit came to lodge in a tree stump, creating this Pokémon. A cure-all can be made from an infusion of its green leaves. (Ultra Moon)**


	2. Chapter 2

         

 

       Marco wasn’t sure what to expect when they took the Phantump who was originally a boy named Ace back towards Dawn forest with the plan of finding his brothers… or the bodies. Thatch, Haruta, Vista, Marco and Ace had left Newgate’s estate the night before and were just now reaching the forest.

                They had packed food, emergency supplies, tracking device, and their best tracking pokemon the family had to offer.

                Before Marco could call out Pidgeotto to give them a sky view, Ace shot forwards and into the woods with a high wail.

                “Haru wait!” Thatch called out, reaching forward to try and hook around the younger’s midriff.

                Haruta sprinted after the pokemon without looking back, disappearing into the foliage in seconds. The other three followed in after him, calling loudly into the darkness but Ace’s wailing echoed loudly in the trees and in minutes they couldn’t even find the road.

                “What do we doooooo.” Thatch panicked, pulling at his pompadour in stress until it came undone and fell in strands around him.

                “Call out your pokemon,” Vista decided, “We’ll spread out, send up a flare if you find anything.”

                Nodding towards each other they each released a Stoutland, before Marco released pidgeotto, Thatch threw out Crobat, as Vista called on mothim.

                “Were looking for Haruta, a Phantump… and any other ghost pokemon.” Marco admitted after a second, “Don’t attack them, they need our help.”

                They split up, each taking a different direction with their pokemon companions.

 Thatch climbed onto Stoutland’s large form and held on as he sniffed loudly with small grunts, leading them around trees. Crobat flew ahead, circled back, before landing in trees to give Thatch a shake for no.

Vista walked directly opposite of Thatch, with a hand in his Stoutland’s fur and eyes peeled as he tried to see anything he was missing. Jozu’s Mothim fluttered its wings, circling around Vista in large arches.

Marco marched forward easily, eyes on his pidgeotto as Stoutland trotted in the woods around him.

Haruta was ahead, running after the ghost pokemon without a thought, calling back to her brothers to hurry up or they’d lose him. She jumped over mounds and large branches, hesitating when she caught sight of a particularly interesting pokemon before shaking herself and following after Ace.

Ace wailed the entire time, leading her through the forest, around a riverbed and through a field.

They passed flocks of Pidgeys and Talliow, swarms of Beedrill and young, Budew’s marching behind a Roselia. The sun sank deeper into the sky.

                Ace stopped at the mouth of a river, chattering as he pointed before turning and leading him through the sandy dirt and back into the woods, pointing in the dirt until Haruta got it.

                “There’s dragging marks- oh you and your brothers then?”

                Twirling it set off, leading Haruta a little deeper until…

 

                Thatch ended up on the main road…somehow. He was a good couple miles from where they entered the forest, but he was now not in the forest. Petting Stoutland absently he peered down the roadways before urging the dog pokemon to head back into the woods, Crobat already taking off. Perching himself up, Thatch pulled his bag around and started looking for his flashlight, as dawn was beginning to cast shadows in the trees. They were only a few feet into the forest when Crobat screeched and Stoutland tensed up and growled. Quickly he switched the flashlight on and turned it around, looking through the trees.

                A large pair of glowing eyes hovered several feet in front of them- a haunter with a blue top hat was floating lazily, eyes darting towards Crobat before settling on Thatch.

                “Ah shit, okay, wait. Blue top hat.” Thatch fumbled, almost dropping the flashlight, “Dad showed us a picture. Okay, are you Sabo?” He tried, smiling nervously.

                The pokemon moved closer, its large eyes blinking slowly as its clawed hand rose up.

                It hummed a greeting with a small wave before its entire form bobbed up and down.

                “Well shit, okay, I guess. Ace said you’re all Phantumps though.”

                The pokemon focused on him at those words before shouting forward, nearly going through Thatch’s unsuspecting form. Its large mouth opened as it grunted and pushed its arms out in grabbing motions.

                “What? Oh, no I don’t have Ace with me. Ace is with my sister Haruta.” He told the ghost pokemon.

                The haunter turned, motioning after it floated a few feet away, for him to follow. Absently Thatch tapped at the pokeball calling Crobat back before following the spirit.

                “So, what were you doing close to the roads?”

 

                It was not hard to find the youngest. Vista thought, having stopped to pull out some snacks and feed Mothim and Stoutland. A small, or at least a good deal smaller than Ace, Phantump had come floating over, a large straw-hat falling down and covering its stump head more then once. He made pitiful whining sounds as came by, making grabbing motions towards the food.

                “Luffy?”

                The pokemon boy looked up, it’s red eyes glowing as it tilted it’s head in the picture of innoncence even though it had somehow gotten Stoutland’s portion of food and was absentmindedly throwing pokebeans in his mouth.

                “Well okay then.” Vista muttered scouting closer to offer some cookies he had packed.

                The nine-year-old turned pokemon greedily took the cookies, dropping the beans and letting them roll as he shoved the chocolate chip cookies into its mouth.

 

                Marco found Haruta after a she sent out a flare. She stood with Ace, her back turned towards the image. There were two wholes in the ground with large lines of empty spaces that were several feet apart- the stumps- Marco realized.

                Pale and smelly, a small form was curled just feet away from the first one, dark hair and freckles standing out on a face that was ashen white. There were drag marks, that lead to the other dark-haired boy, younger than the first with a curved scar under his eye, that was half into the hole left by the stump.

                “What happened?”

                “Uh, Ace… mimed what he did. He died first apparently, got cut from a rock in the river.” And Marco could see, now that he was looking the earth under the first body was a little darker and the shirt half brown with dried blood. “He woke up as Phantump and pulled his brother’s body close to the other stump, so he’d have a chance.”

                “And the third?”

                Haruta shrugged as Thatch crashed through the trees, a haunter at his side.

                “I found one!”

                The haunter shot forward, nearly losing its hat before it collides with Ace, both wailing loudly as they hugged.

                “I’m guessing that’s the missing one.”

                “Oh, you found Sabo and the bodies?” Vista asked, walking forward with a smaller Phantump asleep in his arms.

                Ace screeched at the sight, floating up to be eye level with Vista before making grabby motions.

                “I found Luffy.”

                “We can see that.” Thatch muttered; eyes focused on the three ghost pokemon.

                “Do we know where the other body is?”

                The haunter waved its hand before pointing down towards the river. Vista hesitated for a second before heading in the direction. For a second the stand their silently other then the chattering and wailing of the ghost pokemon, as Vista searches.

                “Found it!”

 

**#094 Gengar Ghost/Poison It apparently wishes for a traveling companion. Since it was once human itself, it tries to create one by taking the lives of other humans. (Moon )**


End file.
